"[Biblions are] how each atomic unit of information would receive a fixed locator record to ensure its availability..." #readingToday

By following a rigidly controlled set of cataloging rules— based on the Universal Decimal Classification— the bibliologist could synthesize material from multiple sources, thus allowing others to search, retrieve, and repurpose the contents in theoretically endless permutations. The cataloging system— relatively unchanged from when Otlet first conceived it half a century before— would provide a framework for describing every fact, element, illustration, photograph, diagram, and so forth contained in each source, providing rules for everything from subject classification to the proper treatment of titles, pagination, and the notation of divisions in a text. Here is Otlet, the master cataloger, at the top of his game. He lays out exacting rules for citing every possible permutation of an author's name (including authors writing under multiple names, pseudonyms, or even anagrams) and how to cite page numbers, volumes of serial publications, and all manner of other bibliographic arcana. Finally, he describes how each atomic unit of information would receive a fixed locator record to ensure its availability to the larger population of users.

Cataloging the World, Alex Wright